Mr. DeWine (for himself
and Mr. Kohl) submitted the following
resolution; which was considered and agreed to

RESOLUTION

Designating September 10 through September
16, 2006, as National Polycystic Kidney Disease Awareness Week
and supporting the goals and ideals of a National Polycystic Kidney Disease
Awareness Week to raise public awareness and understanding of polycystic kidney
disease and to foster understanding of the impact polycystic kidney disease has
on patients and future generations of their families.

Whereas polycystic kidney disease (known as
PKD) is the most prevalent life-threatening genetic disease in
the United States, is a severe, dominantly inherited disease that has a
devastating impact, in both human and economic terms, on people of all ages,
and affects equally people of all races, sexes, nationalities, geographic
locations, and income levels;

Whereas, based on prevalence estimates by the National
Institutes of Health, it is estimated that about 600,000 patients in the United
States have a genetic inheritance from 1 or both parents called polycystic
kidney disease, and that countless additional friends, loved ones, spouses, and
caregivers must shoulder the physical, emotional, and financial burdens that
polycystic kidney disease causes;

Whereas polycystic kidney disease, for which there is no
cure, is 1 of the 4 leading causes of kidney failure in the United
States;

Whereas the vast majority of polycystic kidney disease
patients reach kidney failure at an average age of 53, causing a severe strain
on dialysis and kidney transplantation resources and on the delivery of health
care in the United States, as the largest segment of the population of the
United States, the baby boomers, continues to age;

Whereas end stage renal disease is one of the fastest
growing components of the Medicare budget, and polycystic kidney disease
contributes to that cost by an estimated $2,000,000,000 annually for dialysis,
kidney transplantation, and related therapies;

Whereas polycystic kidney disease is a systemic disease
that causes damage to the kidney and the cardiovascular, endocrine, hepatic,
and gastrointestinal organ systems and instills in patients a fear of an
unknown future with a life-threatening genetic disease and apprehension over
possible genetic discrimination;

Whereas the severity of the symptoms of polycystic kidney
disease and the limited public awareness of the disease causes many patients to
live in denial and forego regular visits to their physicians or to avoid
following good health management which would help avoid more severe
complications when kidney failure occurs;

Whereas people who have chronic, life-threatening diseases
like polycystic kidney disease have a predisposition to depression (7 times the
national average) and its resultant consequences due to their anxiety over
pain, suffering, and premature death;

Whereas the Senate and taxpayers of the United States
desire to see treatments and cures for disease and would like to see results
from investments in research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and
from such initiatives as the NIH Roadmap to the Future;

Whereas polycystic kidney disease is a verifiable example
of how collaboration, technological innovation, scientific momentum, and
public-private partnerships can generate therapeutic interventions that
directly benefit polycystic kidney disease sufferers, save billions of Federal
dollars under Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs for dialysis, kidney
transplants, immunosuppressant drugs, and related therapies, and make available
several thousand openings on the kidney transplant waiting list;

Whereas improvements in diagnostic technology and the
expansion of scientific knowledge about polycystic kidney disease have led to
the discovery of the 3 primary genes that cause polycystic kidney disease and
the 3 primary protein products of the genes and to the understanding of cell
structures and signaling pathways that cause cyst growth that has produced
multiple polycystic kidney disease clinical drug trials;

Whereas there are thousands of volunteers nationwide who
are dedicated to expanding essential research, fostering public awareness and
understanding of polycystic kidney disease, educating polycystic kidney disease
patients and their families about the disease to improve their treatment and
care, providing appropriate moral support, and encouraging people to become
organ donors; and

Whereas these volunteers engage in an annual national
awareness event held during the third week of September and such a week would
be an appropriate time to recognize National Polycystic Kidney Disease Week:
Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate—

(1)

designates
September 10 through September 16, 2006, as National Polycystic Kidney
Disease Awareness Week;

(2)

supports the
goals and ideals of a National Polycystic Kidney Disease Awareness Week to
raise public awareness and understanding of polycystic kidney disease (known as
PKD);

(3)

recognizes the
need for additional research into a cure for polycystic kidney disease;
and

(4)

encourages the
people of the United States and interested groups to support National
Polycystic Kidney Awareness Week through appropriate ceremonies and activities
to promote public awareness of polycystic kidney disease and to foster
understanding of the impact of the disease on patients and their
families.